Top 10 Area Football Rankings For Minnesota (Week 5)

Wheaton-Herman-Norcross’ loss to the No. 1-ranked team in the AP’s Class 9-man poll shuffled things a bit, as did Moorhead’s loss. Here are your area Minnesota football rankings after four weeks of football.

1. Mahnomen (4-0)

Last week: 60-0 win over Walker-Hackensack-Akeley at home

Next up: Red Lake at Red Lake (0-4), 7 p.m., Friday

Make it 18 wins in a row for Mahnomen and 19 should be coming rather easily. The Indians defense locked up their third shut out of the season, giving up 19 total yards of offense to W-H-A.

They have given up 91 points during the 18-game winning streak and have 11 shutouts.

2. Detroit Lakes (4-0)

Last week: 48-6 win over Staples-Motley at home

Next up: East Grand Forks at East Grand Forks (0-4), 7 p.m., Friday

Christian Hedstrom (5) had a big game for Detroit Lakes in its win over Staples-Motley. Photo by Brian Basham/DL Newspapers

DL’s offensive line is allowing for the Lakers to run wild, regardless of who has the ball. Quarterback Michael Herzog was held out, but Christian Hedstrom and Jarret Nosal combined for 190 yards and four touchdowns on 10 carries.

DL head coach Flint Motschenbacher passed Rick Manke on the Laker all-time win list last week with his team’s victory over Thief River Falls and moved to 118-44 overall in his career with the win over Staples-Motley. Herzog is up next for records, as he’s eight points away from tying Todd Steinmetz’ 278 career points from 1994-96.

The Hawley offense has answered everything thrown at them this season, but D-G-F may be their biggest test of the season. Outside of a 28-22 loss, the Rebels have given up 20 points in their three wins The Nuggets win this one and there’s a good chance they head into the playoffs undefeated.

4. Ada-Borup (4-0)

Last week: 55-33 win over Park Christian at home

Next up: Win-E-Mac (4-0) at the Fargodome, 3:45 p.m., Saturday

The three-headed monster of JD Kappes, Lance Ruebke and Blake Fetting have a big test against undefeated Win-E-Mac. Can’t let the bright lights of the Fargodome make for a stumble.

5. Barnesville (4-0)

Last week: 68-12 win over United North Central at home

Next up: Osakis at Osakis (3-1), 7 p.m., Friday

It’s been pretty easy for Barnesville since it’s opening game with Otter Tail Central, which was still a 37-14 win. Quarterback Kyler Martz has been incredibly sufficient, going 21-for-25 for 325 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions in the last two weeks.

Pair that with running back Michael Strand and the Trojans are somehow scarier than they look.

6. Wheaton-Herman-Norcross (3-1)

Last week: 34-14 loss to Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley at home

Next up: Hancock at Hancock (0-4), 7 p.m., Friday

W-H-N needs to rebound after falling to the top-ranked team in Class 9-man according to the AP polls and last season’s state champs. The bad news it the Warriors dropped their first game. The good news is they lost by 20 to a C-G-B team that outscored opponents 152-14 in their previous three games.

7. Verndale (4-0)

Last week: 56-8 win over Hillcrest Lutheran Academy at Fergus Falls

Next up: Host Ashby (1-3), 7 p.m., Saturday

Dillon Card has been outstanding for Verndale. He ran for 223 yards and three touchdowns, returned a punt 89 yards for a TD, returned an interception 35 yards for a TD and threw a touchdown pass in Week 4. Problem for Verndale is their opponents are a combined 4-12 without counting 1-3 Ashby.

That all ends in Week 6 when Verndale will be tested against Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley.

8. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (3-1)

Last week: 33-7 win over Breckenridge at Breckenridge

Next up: Host No. 3 Hawley (4-0) at Glyndon, 7 p.m., Friday

D-G-F certainly didn’t go easy on itself with scheduling. It took four weeks for the Rebels to surpass their win total from last season, but their biggest test comes Friday at homecoming against Hawley and the Nuggets offense. The Rebels held Perham’s offense, but Hawley’s is better.

9. Perham (3-1)

Last week: 13-6 win over Crookston at home

Next up: Pequot Lakes at Pequot Lakes, 6 p.m., Friday

It wasn’t pretty, but Perham got a 13-6 win in Week 4. Photo by Robert Williams/Perham Focus

Perham’s offense has lost its groove. After scoring 83 points in the first two weeks, the Yellowjackets have scored just 20 in the last two weeks. They scored just 13 points against 1-3 Crookston, who had given up 78 points to Detroit Lakes and Park Rapids in their previous two games.

10. Park Rapids (3-1)

Last week: 14-12 win over Pequot Lakes at home

Next up: Thief River Falls at Thief River Falls (3-1), 6 p.m., Friday

Park Rapids enters the top 10 after three straight wins. Problem is those wins were against teams combined to have a 3-9 record. That ends with Thief River Falls, Detroit Lakes and Perham being three of the final four games for Park Rapids.

Dropped out of the rankings (previous ranking)
Moorhead (10)

Knocking on the doorFrazee (3-1)– Only loss is to a Mahnomen team that has won 18 straight games and they handled a 3-0 Lake Park-Audubon team pretty handily in Week 4.

Otter Tail Central (3-1)– After opening the season with a 37-14 loss to Barnesville, the Bulldogs have won three straight, outscoring opponents 126-0.

Chris Murphy can be reached at 701-241-5548 or cmurphy@forumcomm.com. Follow him on Twitter @SeeMurphsTweets for Minnesota prep updates and smart alecky remarks about sports, movies, music and life in general.

ABOUT

Chris Murphy has been a sports reporter for the Forum since 2012. He's covered high school sports in Chicago, North Dakota and Minnesota since 2009 and, for some reason, has been given awards for doing so.